The details are still vague at this point, but according to several reports, C.J. McCollum was ultimately forced to sit out against the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night due to what the team is calling a clerical error. It’s unclear who exactly was responsible for the mistake, but McCollum was incorrectly marked as inactive on the team’s roster that was submitted prior to the game, which head coach Terry Stotts apparently signed off on.

Just received confirmation that C.J. McCollum was mistakenly listed as inactive on the roster turned into the league. Costly clerical error.

Each team is responsible to listed [sic] the 13 of their 15 players who will be active for the upcoming game roughly an hour before the game is schedule [sic] to start. Somehow McCollum was left off the active list in place of rookie Luis Montero. Once the list is signed by both coaches, as was the case Wednesday night, the active list is set.

Once Portland noticed the error they and the Clippers reportedly had a conference call with the NBA to figure out if McCollum could be included on the active list as intended. But the letter of the law clearly states that the active list is final once signed by both coaches, so McCollum was listed as inactive.

Amide the confusion, McCollum was dressed in warmup gear prior to tipoff, while Luis Montero, who was listed as active by mistake as part of the whole snafu, was in street clothes.

Actually this is a microcosm of the issues facing our society as a whole. Even though BOTH parties agreed that the mistake should be overturned, the law overruled them. Why do have laws if it doesn’t suit the people involved?